iOptron ZEQ25GT manual

iOptron ® ZEQ25GT Balanced GoTo Equatorial Mount With Go2Nova ® 8408 Hand Controller Instruction Manual Product #7100, #7101 and #7102[...]

2 Table of Content Table of Content ................................................................................................................................................. 2 1. ZEQ25GT Overview ...................................................................................................................................... 4 2. ZEQ25 [...]

3 5.5.2. Record PEC .................................................................................................................................... 26 5.6. Set User Objects .......................................................................................................... .......................... 26 5.7. Set Guide Rate ...............[...]

4 1. ZEQ25GT Overview Welcome to a new type of EQ mount! The iOptron “Z” des ign mount puts the payload weight at the center of gravity allowing for greater natural stability. Thi s also means the mount is extremely light compared to its payload—a nice benefit when setting up at a remote site. Other features include an adjustable counterweigh[...]

5 2. ZEQ25 Terms 2.1. Parts List 1 There are two shipping boxes for a regular tri pod version. One box contains a ZEQ mount, hand controller, one 10.4 lbs (4.7kg) cou nterweight, counterweight shaft, tripod spreader and accessories. The other box contains a tripod. • iOptron ® ZEQ25GT telescope mount (with built-in GPS) • Go2Nova ® 8408 Hand [...]

6 2.2. Assembly Terms Polar Axis Cover Polar Scope Cover Polar Axis (R.A. axis) Azi. Adj. Knob Lat. Adj. Knob Lat. Locki ng T-bolt CW mounting nose Front C W position scr ew R.A. Drive Unit DEC Drive Unit Dovetail Saddle Main board CW Safety Screw CW Bar Counterweigh t CW Locki ng Screw Polar Axis Cover Polar Scope Cover Polar Axis (R.A. axis) Azi.[...]

7 2.3. ZEQ25 Ports Ports on the mount DEC Unit R.A. Un it Main Board Main Bo ard DEC Unit R.A. Un it Main Board Main Bo ard Figure 2. Ports on a ZEQ25 mount On main control board: • OFF/ON Switch: Power switch • Dec: For connecting to DEC drive unit • Power DC 12V: DC power plug • iOptron Port: For connecting to other iOptron accessories, s[...]

8 The Go2Nova ® 8408 hand controller (HC) shown in Figure 3 is the standard controllers that used for a ZEQ25 mount. It has a 4 line, 21 character large LCD screen, function keys, dire ction keys and number keys on the front; a and a HBX port (6-pin) and a serial port ( 4-pin) at the bottom. 2.4.1. Key Description • MENU Key: Press “MENU” to[...]

9 Figure 6. 8408 HC LCD Information Screen 1. Target Name/Mount Position: displays the name of the target that telescope is currently pointed to or the current mount position. • An object name, such as “Mercury” or “Andromeda Galaxy”: Name of the Star or celestial object that the mount is currently slewing to, GOTO or tracking; • User P[...]

10 3. ZEQ25GT Mount Assembly 3.1. Introduction You have just purchased a telescope mount that is capable of taking you to a new level of astronomy. No matter which telescope or optical tube assembly (OTA) you select to install on the mount, the overall performance will be greatly enhanced. In or der for you to get the optimum performance from the m[...]

11 WARNING: Please DO NOT rock t he counterweight shaft rigorously. You’ll degrade the performance of the spring loaded gear meshing system, or even damage it. WARNING: The new Gear Sw itch will allow you to have most precise weight balance. This also means the mount or OTA will swing FREELY when the Gear Switch is disengaged. Al ways hold the OT[...]

12 Alignment Peg Tray Loc king Knob Accessory Tray Center Rod Knob Figure 8. Set up tripod STEP 3. Attach the ZEQ25 Mount Retract both Azimuth Adj. Knobs to allow enough clearance inside the chamber. Position the mount on the tripod head with the Alignment Peg in between the 2 Azimuth Adj. Knobs. Thread the Center Rod into mount to secure it with t[...]

13 (1) Remove CW Shaft Locking Screw from the CW Mounting Nose. (2) Insert CW shaft into the CW Mounting Nose as indicated in 2nd photo below. (3) Lock it using CW Shaft Locking Screw from the other side of the CW Mounting Nose. Tighten the Front CW Positioning Screw which is located in front of the CW Mounting Nose. If the latitude of the observat[...]

14 Rotate the DEC axis to horizontal position. Adjust the CW position to balance the mount in R.A. axis (Figure 14a) and move the OTA position to balance the mount along DEC axis (Figure 14b). (a) (b) Figure 14. Balance along R.A. axis (a) and DEC axis (b) CAUTION: The balance process MUST be done w ith Gear Switch at OPEN position! Otherwise it mi[...]

15 To set up the controller, press MENU button on the hand controller. From the main menu, scroll down and select “ Set Up Controller ” Press ENTER and select “Set Up Time and Site” Press ENTER. A time and site information screen will be displ ayed: Set Local Time The time will be updated automatically when the GPS has picked up a signal. Y[...]

16 Set Observation Site Coordinate The third and fourth lines display th e longitude and latitude coordinates, respectively. The longitude and latitude coordinates will be automatically updat ed when the GPS picks up satellite signals. “W/E” means western/eastern hemisphere; “N/S” means nor thern/southern hemisphere; “d” means degree; ?[...]

17 If a ZEQ25GT mount equipped with an iOptron’s AccuAligning TM polar scope, you can do a fast and accurate polar axis alignment with iOptron’s Quick Polar Alignment procedure. Figure 17. Polar Scope Polar Scope LED Figure 18. Polar Scope LED As indicated in Figure 17, the Polar Scope Dial has been divided into 12 hours alo ng the angular dire[...]

18 NOTE: If you are located in southern hemisphere, Sigma Octantis will be chosen for Polar Alignment. For example, on May 20, 2010, 20:00:00 in Sydney , Australia (Lat S33º51’36” and Long E151º12’40”), 600 min ahead of UT, the Sigma Octantis Position is 1hr21.8m and 64.4m. BrightStar Polar Alignment For those who do not have a polar scop[...]

19 Figure 20. Zero position[...]

20 4. Getting Started In order to experience the full GOTO capability of GOTONOVA ® technology it is very important to set up the mount correctly before observation. 4.1. Setup the Mount and Polar Alignment Assemble your ZEQ25 mount according to Section 3.2. Turn the mount power switch on. When the GPS receiver is connected to satellites, LCD will[...]

21 4.5. Star Identifying Function The 8408 hand controller has a star identifying function. After Polar Alignment and Set Up Time and Site , slew the telescope to an bright star, manually or using GOTO. Press ? (Help) button to identify the star name telescope is pointing to, as well as nearby bright stars if there are any. 4.6. Gear Tension Adjust[...]

22 5. Complete Functions of Go2Nova ® 8408 Hand Controller 5.1. Slew to an Object Press the MENU button. From the main menu select “ Select and Slew .” Select an object that you would like to observe and press the ENTER key. The Go2Nova ® 8408 hand controller has a database of about 50,000 objects. Use the ► or ◄ buttons to move the curso[...]

23 5.1.7. User Objects It can store up to 60 used entered objects, including comets. 5.1.8. Enter R.A. DEC Here you can go to a target by entering its R.A. and DEC numbers. 5.2. Sync to Target This operation will match the telescope's current coordinates to Target Right Ascension and Declination. After slewing to an object, press MENU—then s[...]

24 Press ENTER. A R.A. anti-backlash screen will display: To adjust steps move the cursor to each digit and use the number keys to input number directly. Press ENTER – “DEC anti-backlash” will display: Move the cursor to each digit and use the number keys to set the anti-backlash. Press ENTER to go back the previous screen. Press BACK button [...]

25 5.3.9. Upgrade RA & DEC Use this operation to upgrade 8408 hand controller, R.A. and DEC motor controller firmware. Please refer to iOptron online documents for ZEQ25 firmware upgrade details. The password is 9999 . 5.4. Align This function is used for aligning the telescope. The hand controller provides “Polar Align”, which uses a set o[...]

26 If you’ve done with the two star alignment, press the BACK button to finish the alignment. Press ENTER key to select third star for further alignment. 5.4.5. Pole Star Position This shows Polaris position in northern hemispher e or Sigma Octantis position in southern hemisphere, which is used for Quick Polar Alignment. 5.5. PEC Option 5.5.1. P[...]

27 Press ENTER to bring up user objects setting screen. Select “ Add a New Record ”. A screen will display asking to Enter R.A. DEC : You may enter the R.A. and DEC c oordinates of the star you want to watch, and press ENTER. A confirmation screen will show. Press ENTER to conf irm storing your object under assigned user object number, or press[...]

28 6. Maintenance and Servicing 6.1. Maintenance The ZEQ25GT is designed to be maintenance free. Do not overload the mount . Do not drop the mount, this will damage the mount or degrade the GOTO tr acking accuracy permanently. Use a wet cloth to clean the mount and hand controller. Do not use solvent. If your mount is not to be used for an extended[...]

29 Appendix A. Technical Specifications Mount “Z Balanced” Equatorial Mount Payload 27 lb (12.3kg), exclude counterweight Mount weight 10.4 lb (4.7kg) Payload/Mount weight 2.60 Right Ascension worm wheel Φ 88mm, 144 teeth aluminum Declination worm wheel Φ 88mm, 144 teeth aluminum Right Ascension axis shaft Φ 35mm steel Declination axis shaft[...]

30 Appendix B. Go2Nova ® 8408 HC MENU STRUCTURE MENU Select and Sle w Select and Sle w Solar Syste m Solar Syste m Comets Comets Asteroids Asteroids Stars Stars Mercur y Venus Mars Jupiter Satur n Uranus Neptune Sun Moon Mercur y Venus Mars Jupiter Satur n Uranus Neptune Sun Moon Deep Sky Objects Deep Sky Objects Nam ed Object Messier Catalog NGC [...]

31 Set Polar Light Align Align Firmware In formation Firmware In formation Polar Align Polar Align One Star Align One Star Align Multi-Star Align Multi-Star Align Pole Star Posit ion Pole Star Posit ion Set User Obj e cts Add A New Record Brow se Re cords Delete One Record Delete All Records Set User Obj e cts Set User Obj e cts Add A New Record Ad[...]

32 Appendix C. Firmware Upgrade The firmware in the 8408 hand controller and motor control boards can be upgraded by the customer. Please check iOptron’s website, www.iOptron.com , under Support Directory/ZEQ Mounts, select ZEQ25GT with 8408 Hand Controller, for detail.[...]

33 Appendix D. Computer Control an ZEQ25GT Mount The ZEQ25GT mount can be connected to a computer using supplied RS232 cable. A RS232 to USB adapter (not supplied) is needed if your computer does not have a serial port, like most of t he laptops on the market today. Follow the adapter instructions to install the adapter driver. When the communicati[...]

Appendix E. Go2Nova ® Star List Messier Catalog This table is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License . It uses material from the Wikipedia article List of Messier objects[...]

35 001 Acamar 050 Asellus Australis 099 Kaus Media 148 Rastaba 002 Achernar 051 Asellus Borealis 100 Keid 149 Regulus 003 Acrux 052 Aspidiske 101 Kitalpha 150 Rige l 004 Acubens 053 Atik 102 Kochab 151 Rigel Kentaurus 005 Adhafera 054 Atlas 103 Kornephoros 152 Ruchbah 006 Adhara 055 Atria 104 Kurhah 153 Rukbat 007 Al Na’ir 056 Avoir 105 Lesath 15[...]

No. Constellation Abbreviation No. Constellation Abbreviation 1 A ndromeda A nd 45 Lacerta Lac 2 A ntlia A nt 46 Leo Leo 3 A pus A ps 47 Leo Minor LMi 4 A quarius A qr 48 Lepus Lep 5 A quila A ql 49 Libra Lib 6 A ra A ra 50 Lupus Lup 7 A ries A ri 51 Lynx Lyn 8 A uriga A ur 52 Lyra Lyr 9 Boötes Boo 53 Mensa Men 10 Caelum Cae 54 Microscopium Mic 11[...]

ID No. OBJECT NGC # Messier# IC# A (A bell) U(UGC) ID No. OBJECT NGC # Messier# IC# A (A bell) U(UGC) 1 Andromeda Galaxy 224 31 31 Hind's Variable Nebula 1555 2 Barnards Galaxy 6822 32 Hubble's Variable Nebula 2261 3 Beehive Cluster 2632 44 33 Integral Sign Galaxy 3697 4 Blackeye Galaxy 4926 64 34 Jew el Box Cluster 4755 5 Blinking Planet[...]

No. Ob j ect Const Sep. Ma g itude SAO Comm. Name No. Ob j ect Const Sep. Ma g itude SAO Comm. Name 1 Gam And 9.8 2.3 / 5.1 37734 Almaak 36 Eta Cas 12.9 3.5 / 7.5 21732 Achird 2 Pi And 35.9 4.4 / 8.6 54033 37 Iot Cas 2.3 4.7/7.0/8.2 12298 3 Bet Aql 12.8 3.7 / 11 125235 Alshain 38 P si Cas 25 4.7 / 8.9 11751 4 11 Aql 17.5 5.2 / 8.7 104308 39 Sig Cas[...]

No. Ob j ect Const Sep. Ma g itude SAO Comm. Name No. Ob j ect Const Sep. Ma g itude SAO Comm. Name 71 Bet C yg 34.4 3.1 / 5.1 87301 Albireo 106 Del Her 8.9 3.1 / 8.2 84951 Sarin 72 Omi 1 C yg 107 3.8 / 6.7 49337 107 Mu Her 34 3.4 / 9.8 85397 73 52 Cyg 6.1 4.2 / 9.4 70467 108 Alp Her 4.6 3.5 / 5.4 102680 Rasalgethi 74 Ups C yg 15.1 4.4 / 10 71173 1[...]

No. Ob j ect Const Sep. Ma g itude SAO Comm. Name No. Ob j ect Const Sep. Ma g itude SAO Comm. Name 141 Eps 2 Lyr 2.3 5.2 / 5.5 67315 Double dbl2 176 Zet Psc 23 5.6 / 6.5 109739 142 Alp Mic 20.5 5.0 / 10 212472 177 Kap Pup 9.9 4.5 / 4.7 174199 143 Zet Mon 32 4.3 / 10 135551 178 Eta Pup 9.6 5.8 / 5.9 174019 144 Eps Mon 13.4 4.5 / 6.5 113810 179 Eps [...]

IOPTRON TWO YEAR TELESCOPE, MO UNT, AND CONTROLLER WARRANTY A. iOptron warrants your telescope, mount, or cont roller to be free from defects in materials and workmanship for two years. iO ptron will repair or replace such product or part which, upon inspection by iOptron, is found to be defective in materials or workman ship. As a condition to the[...]